The Value of Working Hard for Shit Money

When I finished my A-levels (end of high school) and got an offer from a university, I immediately deferred my place for a year. Not like most kids my age, who either went straight into college or took a year off to “travel and find themselves.” I decided to work so I could get some experience in the real world before I entered that bubble of sheltered feminist nutcases. Since then I’ve worked on local shoots, in warehouses, and most recently as a barman in a pub. I’ve learned more about the world in these last 6 months than the rest of my 19 years on this planet.

The motivation for work didn’t involve one thing that I’ve learned honorable goals of improving myself didn’t even cross my mind. In the immortal quote from The Wild Angels, “We wanna get loaded, and we wanna have a good time and that’s what we’re gonna do.” All these lessons in manhood pale in comparison to the booze I’ve drank, the drugs I’ve taken (allegedly), and the women I’ve laid. The work fueled the partying and by God the partying is good. In bars I’ve met and partied with gangsters, Hari Krishnas, artists, and even the occasional university student. Now lots of young people try to be these characters I’ve met when they’re at college and trying to define themselves. But it’s only a facade and they never match those who actually live it.

You can spot a fake from a mile off when you’ve seen the genuine article and this life experience will stay with me forever. My friends are shocked when someone steps a little outside of the acceptable social norms by arguing for basic conservative principles. I’ve seen what the working class thinks of world politics and it makes Richard Spencer look like a shrinking violet. We need to get wise to the reality of the world before we start pontificating about the nature of the political stage.

How many of these sheltered leftists crying, “Workers of the world unite!” have ever worked a shitty job or met a real worker. The 20th century philosopher Simone Weil used family contacts to get a job in a warehouse so she could suffer with the workers. Surprise, surprise, she very quickly learned that workers weren’t too interested in suffering and just wanted to get the job done and go to the beer hall at the end of the day.

So what’s the message here? I think whether its before or after university you ought to have worked at least one shitty job not just because that’s all you’re qualified for, but because it teaches you valuable lessons about life and shows that you aren’t above working hard for a crap wage.

And that you can appreciate those nights of partying ten times more than you would have.